Sunday, May 22, 2016

An email received today from Karen Myers: "Mike had back surgery on Tuesday. He is still in the hospital but has
been out of bed and walking the hall a couple of times today. Hopefully
we won't be here much longer. Keep him in your prayers."

Friday, May 20, 2016

Priscilla Gonzalez, our bright and cheerful Office Assistant here at Leisure World, is a very proud mama...and with good reason!

Priscilla's daughter, Ciera, is a 16 year old sophomore at Weslaco High School, and a member of the Varsity Track Team. She just ended her successful track season with Area and Regional qualifications in discus.

Ciera also received an MVP Award for field events and is ranked 3rd in the state.

Its no wonder Priscilla is so proud of her! We'd like to add our congratulations as well.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

I just want to say a great big THANKS TO DAVE for his TIME, PATIENCE, WILLINGNESS AND EXPERTISE to help technology challenged people like me!!!! Dave I am still having some difficulty with the pics, but hopefully this is a baby step and I will eventually get it and won't have to yell for HELP. THANK YOU!!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

We (Dick and I) have been busy since we have arrived back up north. It is still cold here and we wish we could get someone from Leisure World to send us some high temperature weather. Within a few days of being back, we got the motor home out of storage and had our first outing with the group we belong to. (The Cardinal Capers). Our outing was only about 45 minutes from our home (Thomson, Illinois), so we lucked out there. BUT, it was so cold - we tried to keep warm with the camp fires, but we still all had our winter coats on. It rained, the wind blew and of course being next to the Mississippi river sure didn't help matters much. We were wagon masters and our duties were to prepare and serve breakfast - yep outside in the 39 degree weather. But we all survived as we sat in our winter coats eating biscuits/gravy and breakfast in a bag. One of our ladies got the bright idea to crochet mats for the Rockford, Illinois Mission (Homeless), so we cut up Wal-Mart bags making strips and rolling into a ball like yarn. Takes about 500 bags to make one mat. SO MUCH FUN... We did do some touring - one place being 85 years old was the Smith Brothers Hardware store in Clinton, Iowa. If you've never been there, you must go - anything from nuts and bolts to baking good and etc.

Another tour was in Fulton, Iowa were we visited the Dutch Windmill which was very interesting. People went to Holland, built the windmill, then disassembled and came back to Fulton to assemble. It is fully operational and very interesting. Also across the street was the culture building and we learned that there are a lot of different types of windmills serving different purposes.

A few of us tried on the "Klompens", but decided we should stick to our original shoes we had on.

While we were there, we met this couple in the picture. They were wishing they were back in their sunny Leisure World home. We are ready to go on our next outing and have many plans for the summer.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Park resident Bob Thompson sent me this information to post on the blog for him. I apologize that I am unable to post the pictures that he sent. Mary Ferguson. (Pics inserted...hope in the correct place! Dave)

On Saturday, May 7th, I had the privilege to be on the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. I live in Sibley, IA so was with the Osceola County Veterans and we were included with the Brushy Creek Honor Flight out of Fort Dodge, IA. This was the 12th Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight and had approximately 157 Veterans from all branches of the service that had served during World War II, Korean War and Viet Nam Conflict.
We had an orientation dinner on Wed. April 27th in Fort Dodge in which spouses and children of the Veterans were invited. My Wife and all three of my children were in attendance. I was totally surprised when my eldest son and his wife from Valdosta, GA arrived!!! What a wonderful evening.
We were given a cap and souvenir T-shirt and a Washington DC Photo Book. We were also divided into teams and given the schedule for the trip.

The flight was on May 7th. The trip was awesome!!! We were treated and accepted like royalty. When we landed at the Dulles Airport there were hundreds and hundreds of people of all ages waiting to welcome and greet us. "Thank you for your service" was heard time and time again. Such a humbling experience. I felt very honored and proud to have served our country in the US Air Force.

We were loaded on buses and given a tour of Washington, DC with stops at the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean and Viet Nam Monuments. We were fed when it was time to eat and riding on the bus had a short time to relax during seeing sights. In the afternoon we stopped at the WWII Monument, where many pictures were taken.

We spent part of the day at Arlington Cemetery where we saw the lowering of the Flag and changing of the Guard. Last was the Iwo Jima Monument where there was a short program.
So hard to pick a favorite as all the sites were so very overwhelming.

I feel honored that I was selected to participate on the May 7th, 2016 Honor Flight. This was indeed a "trip of a lifetime". Bob Thompson

May 14, 2016
WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!
Jack, Shirley Remillard & I are fortunate that Marilyn Farmer found a small article in The Monitor newspaper on Friday, May 13 titled "Port holding 80th anniversary celebration." The article stated that on Saturday May 14 the event was to take place from 10:00 a.m to 4 p.m. The admission was (our favorite word) FREE. The event included boat tours of the Brownsville Ship Channel and guided bus tours of the port's developed area. Guests had the opportunity to walk port grounds where more than 20 exhibitors had displays, including companies that operate at the port. In order to access the event, it was necessary to provide a valid government-issued photo ID. We all used our drivers license.
The event was very well organized. We arrived early at approximately 9:30 a.m.and had some time to check out the vendors booths and get some goodies: tattoos, caps, cups of corn, etc.

Right away the boat tours of Port Brownsville began, we were lucky to get aboard the second boat! What a wonderful, informative tour. Again it was FREE!!!! and my little brain was remembering how much we had paid for the Port tours we had bought from the guest speakers we have had at our Park meetings. The tour was about an hour and so interesting, so much more information and detail than the other tours that we have taken and we were even allowed to take pictures which was never allowed past a certain point. Our guide on the boat gave so many facts about how many years the port had been in operation, how the port provides so many jobs and how much revenue it generates.

After we finished the boat tour, we went right to the school bus, again we got the second tour out! Yes, it was FREE! Once again, so much good information. They told us that the scrap metal from the ships that are being dismantled, etc. was shipped to Mexico and made into very large metal plates then shipped back to the USA. We saw all the large towers and blades for the windmill farms that are being shipped from the port to their destination.
Of course, we couldn't let the day end without topping it off with an awesome meal and gorgeous view at the Dirty Al's Pelican Station at Port Isabel!

The run/walk started at 8:30 a.m. The event is held to raise much needed funds for the Mujeres Unidas Emergency Shelter and Rape Crisis Center and to bring awareness against domestic violence and sexual assault. The signature event was the 1K Men's High Heel Challenge with men being asked to put on a pair of women's high-High Heeled shoes and "Walk A Mile in Her Shoes." The ladies sponsoring the event say they shop for "large size high heels" all year for men to wear. Several men , including Jack participated in this event. It was "not a pretty sight", but fun to watch and a point well made. Of course, our very own Jerry Keesee placed in the run. We were very proud of him and we all enjoyed the day and an experience that we will never forget.

Community Classified

PLEASE NOTE: A prospective resident should not complete the purchase of a home in Leisure World prior to obtaining approval for residency from Park Management.

FOR ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, CORRECTIONS or UPDATES in the Classifieds, contact Scotty Marriner at Lot 221. Also text, email or phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SERVICES